Hon. (Dr.) Najith Indika

¶ 01 Who achieved victory? To summarize the results again, out of roughly 300 local authorities in Sri Lanka, the National People’s Power (NPP) won 267 on 6 May. That is the largest victory in local authority elections in Sri Lankan history. In 120 of those 267 bodies, the NPP secured a majority of councillors. When you add the chairmanships and other posts we won, parity has emerged in about 30 local authorities. We also won the mayoral/chair positions in another 117. But when you aggregate all the other parties together, their side seems larger—though they are not a single team.

¶ 02 I must emphasize this point: there is no formal “Opposition” in local authorities. Yet we see some already calling themselves Opposition Leader in certain councils. That is not how it works. Councils have members drawn from different parties and independent groups; they have a Mayor or Chairman and a Deputy, but no formal Opposition. Only Parliament has Government and Opposition. According to that basic principle, the person elected with a majority of councillors becomes the presiding head of the council. With the NPP holding power in 267 local bodies, how can the Opposition claim control?

¶ 03 Local authorities are based on wards. The ward is the unit, and candidates contest ward by ward. The winner of each ward becomes the councillor. In seven provinces excluding the North and parts of Nuwara Eliya, the NPP won 80 to 90 per cent of wards—94 per cent in some districts—and around 90 per cent overall. Across the country, we have obtained 3,926 councillor positions—the highest ever by a single party. As for votes, we secured the largest totals in all districts except Jaffna and Batticaloa. In Trincomalee, Digamadulla, and Vavuniya too, we topped the poll. In Jaffna, we came second: while the TNA won 130 councillor seats there, the NPP won 80.

¶ 04 In simple terms, for the first time in history, a single national political party—the NPP—has councillors in local authorities across the islands in Jaffna, the North, East, and South. No party had ever achieved representation in all local bodies before. This is a sweeping, nationwide victory and a formation of councillors through this election. That is the public mandate. It is not about spinning numbers to fit a narrative; it is about votes received, vote share, and seats won. All actions should respect that mandate—especially considering the support from Tamil and Muslim communities in the North and East—and the situation of Opposition parties in the South such as the SJB, UNP, and Pohottuwa (even contesting under different symbols). None of them has control of even a single council. Remember: they did not win even one Pradeshiya Sabha outright. The SJB won only 13 local authorities. Back in 2018, contesting as the UNP, they won 35; now they have 13, and in none of those do they hold a clear majority alone.

¶ 05 Without the support of other parties, they cannot appoint a Chairman or Mayor in any of those 13. That is the people’s message. When 267 councils have given the NPP their mandate, that is also the message to the Opposition including the SJB. Within this context we are discussing constituting councils. There was much talk, especially about the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC), the largest local authority, which comprises five electoral districts/segments. In the Eastern Colombo segment, the NPP won all wards; in Western Colombo, all wards; in Borella, all wards; in Colombo North, six new wards; and in Colombo Central, half the wards. Did others win in that manner?

¶ 06 The SJB speaks of joining others to install a Mayor. Their Mayoral candidate, who contested from Colombo South (Borella South), received only 27 per cent and was defeated by our first-past-the-post NPP candidate. The public message is clear. The law—Municipal Councils, Urban Councils and Pradeshiya Sabhas Acts—requires that the person who can command the support of the largest number of councillors be appointed as presiding head. Accordingly, the NPP has won the CMC and many other councils. Where we are short by a few seats, with the support of independents or individual councillors—and respecting the popular mandate—the NPP will constitute the councils and appoint Mayors/Chairmen. That is what these results direct us to do.

¶ 07 However, this does not give a license for those who lost—who have not even reached a relative half compared to the people’s victors—to attempt subversion by cobbling bare legal majorities. In the CMC, for instance, 59 are needed to constitute the council; the SJB has only 29, short by half. What moral right do they have to try such maneuvers, if they respect democracy and the voting system? One might argue legality, but it lacks moral force. Therefore, the NPP will establish the councils we have won, including the CMC. That is the people’s mandate. Do not try to distort or misinterpret this. Parliament reconvenes in a week; by then, honoring the public will, we will proceed to establish all councils we have won, defeating all conspiracies.

¶ 08 Thank you.